We are deeply committed to unlocking the renewable energy in Northland. We are building and operating solar farms in Northland to benefit Northlanders.

Te Puna Mauri ō Omaru is the first community-owned solar farm over 10MW in Aotearoa New Zealand, with the capacity to power 3,000 customers’ homes per year. It represents an investment in renewable generation for Northland, enhances energy resilience and economic returns while supporting Aotearoa New Zealand’s energy transition.

The successful delivery of this project extends beyond financial returns and locally owned infrastructure – it’s also enhancing relationships and building local skills and businesses. Contributing to the region’s economic growth and sustainability.

We worked closely with local hapu Te Uri o Hau during the feasibility, design and construction phases of Northpower’s Te Puna ō Mauri solar farm. As part of our commitment to Te Uri o Hau, we were mindful of cultural values and created a respectful space that encouraged open dialogue and meaningful engagement with our partners.

Te Uri o Hau gifted the name ‘Te Puna Mauri ō Omaru’ to the Ruawai solar farm. It means ‘the energy source of Omaru’ (safe haven), reflecting the original of the whenuawhere the solar farm is located.

Over $5 million was spent with locally, procuring goods, services and employing people, providing a substantial boost to the local economy and supporting local businesses, contractors and suppliers. The project provided genuine employment and skills-building opportunities for local people. By engaging talent locally, we employed more than 50 local workers during the construction phase, many gaining new skills and careers pathways.

By investing in local infrastructure, we are proud to provide tangible social and economic growth opportunities for New Zealand.

This project achieves several firsts for Aotearoa New Zealand, enabled by Northpower selecting leading-edge technology in the construction of the solar farm – this project provided a debut opportunity into our market for many of our leading international suppliers.

This is the first NZ-based project constructed using the Nextracker tracking system. We chose to partner with Nextracker for their innovative tracking design and engineering and their strong support base in Australasia. The Nextracker’s system monitors the sun and individually controls the rows of panels to follow the sun – increasing the yield performance by 20-30%. Providing more renewable energy to the community and contributing to Aotearoa New Zealand’s decarbonisation goals.

The Shoals BLAS engineered system minimises the amount of cable terminations in the field, making it a safer and more reliable solution. Shoals have extensive market share overseas, and Northpower is proud to be their first project in Aotearoa New Zealand.